Region 1-2A soccer: Maclay blanks PSJ

TALLAHASSEE — Maclay School boys soccer player Lincoln Lewis is no stranger to the back of a net. He’s scored 30 goals this season, but his last two were the most satisfying.

Lewis scored twice and assisted on the Marauders’ third goal Saturday afternoon, as Maclay defeated Port St. Joe 3-0 to win its second straight Region 1-2A title. The Marauders (21-2-1) will face Tampa Prep on Thursday at Pepin Stadium in Tampa in the state semifinals.

“We knew we’d be a decent team, but we didn’t know how good we’d be,” said Lewis, who also has 20 assists. “And maybe a quarter of the way through the season something just clicked and we realized we had a chance to go back again.”

Lewis scored in the 27th minute, finding the bottom right corner off Sam Stockstill’s assist. The Marauders took that 1-0 lead into halftime, as the Tiger Sharks (10-7-2) maintained a tough defense.

“You have to credit Port St. Joe,” Maclay coach Andy Warner said. “They closed us down and pressured and put in a third forward early on. We looked unsettled in the back, and we kind of settled down about 20 minutes in.”

Maclay put the game away in the second half with two goals in about one minute. The first came from Lewis, assisted by Adam McCabe on a corner kick in the 47th minute. Then Lewis found Stockstill on a corner kick and Stockstill scored his second goal of the season.

The Sharks got a spirited performance from keeper Austin Houze. The sophomore recorded 10 saves under constant pressure from Maclay’s offense. Port St. Joe coach Gary Hindley said the Marauders’ technical prowess was too much to overcome.

It also didn’t help that the Sharks lost junior Jared Arnold, tied for the team lead in scoring, in the second half after his second yellow card.

“The better team won today,” Hindley said. “Their movement off the ball caused us a lot of problems. It was more than we had up to this point as far as an opponent is concerned, and it confused our marking.”